Twenty-second Day of the First Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty

Himari

Himari woke up groggily in the morning, feeling something pushing hard at her chest. Her vision was blurry, and it took several moments to realize that the pushing was coming from Sakura. She hadn’t so much been pushing as jumping off her forelegs to slam into Himari. Himari tried to wave her away, but didn’t find much strength in her right arm. “Sa…ku…ra…” she got out, surprised at how weak she sounded. “Please stop…”

The fox darted out of her tent, and she could hear the tell tale fox bark. The voice of Maiko sounded far away, she could barely make out what was being said. “Sakura-chan, what is going on? Why are… oh, shit, Himari-san!” There was a vague awareness that Maiko had entered her tent. But she was so confused as to why Maiko was yelling. She was… ok, so moving seemed difficult. Sure, it felt like her bones were made of bamboo at the moment, and she couldn’t will herself to stand. But that was just a bit of morning grogginess.

It started to dawn on Himari that their concerns might be warranted when Maiko lifted her in a cradle and her instinct was to curl in, not protest. There was a sense of urgency in Maiko and Sakura that she simply couldn’t get herself to match. She was loaded up into the cart and wrapped up in blankets. “Himari-san, can you hear me? Nod if you understand.” Himari blinked, then nodded weakly.

“Good,” she let out a sigh. “The wound that you took yesterday is infected. Not sure why. But we need to get you to a proper healer fast. The ride is going to be… bumpy. But we need to get to a proper healer as quickly as possible. Don’t you dare die, ok? Sakura-chan would be so upset if you did.”

Himari nodded weakly, not really grasping the words that were said to her. She felt the fox curl up on her chest. It was a warm feeling, welcome in all the confusion. As they rode, she could feel herself dozing off. Despite fighting to stay awake, sure that passing out was the last thing they wanted her to do… she dozed off nevertheless.

Himari woke up groggily. The wound felt better. As she poked at her shoulder, there was no pain. Not even the feeling of scar tissue.As she looked around, she also noted there was no cart. No Maiko, no Sakura. In fact, it seemed as if she was back in her room at home. This wasn’t right… she needed to be in Yamura, not wasting time at home. The Yamura forge’s maker's mark made up a good number of the Yari that she had found. She needed to be on her way there to find out why!

Himari opened the door out of her room, determined to get back to the duty that she has been pursuing, only to note two things. First: past the awning there was no actual ground. Second, partially obscuring her field of view was a woman she had never seen before. She had vibrant red hair and piercing green eyes, the sort that felt like they were staring straight at your soul. She had a beautiful figure, wrapped up in a kimono that carefully hinted at the skin under it without risking over exposure. And she had the angriest expression that Himari had ever seen.

“You damned idiot!” The woman exclaimed, pushing Himari back into the room. It should be said that Himari was rather proud of how firm her base was, so the fact that she stumbled back took her by surprise. “How could you not take an arrow wound seriously?! How could Maiko not take an arrow wound seriously?! The one I had taken a year ago almost killed me!”

Himari sputtered in surprise and annoyance. “What the - who are-” But she could only get short bursts of words out before the woman was on her again, pointing a sharp nail into her shoulder. Suddenly, the pain of the wound burst into her consciousness again, as if it had always been there.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” She growled. It was then that Himari started to make a connection, and her eyes widened.

“S-Sakura-chan?!”

The woman hopped up again, arms thrown in the air. “Well! At least you were finally clever enough to figure that out!” She turned and pointed an accusatory finger. “In two hundred years of life, you are the quickest on the draw there! Which does NOT make up for how slow you are at understanding the seriousness of your own wounds, by the way.”

“I don’t understand,” Himari sat up, watching the woman with added confusion. “How are you… like this? Am I dreaming? Why does it feel real?”

Sakura watched her for a moment, then let out the heaviest sigh. She sat in front of Himari. “There is a lot there to unpack. For now, know that I am here to help, and know that I need to keep you active and engaged.”

“It was just an arrow,” Himari reflected. “Could it have done so much damage? I understand it was infected, but-”

“Not infected. Poisoned. I did not realize it until I connected our Auras.”

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“Auras?”

“Damned Humans. Always keeping important information buried away. It is not important now, we can discuss it later if you live through this.” The human… Sakura, Himari supposed, reached over and grabbed Himari, pulling her into a big hug. “So do me a big favor and stay with me, ok?”

“Oh… okay.” She didn’t really understand why she was being hugged, but she did understand poison. “So the poison. What do we know about it? Is there a way to fight it from here?”

“There is. But it requires you to trust me, and let me in.”

“You’re already in.”

“Deeper in. You need to open your Aura to me.”

Himari sighed and stood. That’s the second time she mentioned Aura and she still didn't understand it. “You are going to have to explain this like I am a school child. I know the word Aura, but I don’t understand the context you are trying to use it in.”

The… fox? Kitsune, Himari finally realized, rose with her. “First, you need to clear your mind of other thoughts. Close your eyes. Focus only on your breathing, and my words.” Himari tried to clear the confusion from her mind. She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath in. Another breath out. She felt calmer at that moment. Sure, this entire situation was still very confusing and maybe a bit surreal. But once she focused on her breathing, it didn’t feel quite so daunting to think about.

“Good. Ok. Now, I need you to think about the moments that bring you contentment. What drives you forward. Bring that to the forefront, and expose it.” That was… vague. But Himari considered those moments. Contentment… running in the stream as a kid. The riverside chat with her new friends just yesterday. What drives her forward, her forward… the thrill of victory in the trials. The satisfaction at having foiled part of a plot against her lord. She felt a rush, a beating in her heart that was stronger in those moments. Even in the fight against those bandits. She held her hands forward, and as she opened her eyes, she saw a rush of water form between them. Her eyes widened, and she froze, not wanting to drop this new splash of herself.

“Well done,” Sakura smiled at her. She stepped forward and slipped her hands between Himari’s. “You should practice this daily,” she said softly. “The more you do it, the more you’ll be able to summon forth. It’s a part of you, it needs work just like your mind and your muscles.”

Her head tilted in confusion. “I mean, you’ll be around to help me, right?” The small sphere of water started to grow as Sakura did… something. Himari couldn’t say what for sure, obviously.

“I do not know,” she answered sadly. “Interacting with humans like this is forbidden, you see. The Guardian of the Forest will not have liked that I helped you fight the bandits. She will be incensed once she realizes that I entered your subconscious. That I helped you fight the poison in this matter. It may be a year before I am allowed to leave again. It may be one hundred.” She shrugged. “It just depends on how angry she is, I suppose.”

“I don’t understand,” Himari suddenly had to blink back tears she didn’t even know she was shedding. “Why would you risk yourself like this? Why wouldn’t you just let me fight off the poison on my own?”

“It was too big a risk,” she whispered in reply. “And I could not let you die.” The shy smile from Sakura surprised Himari. As the two became engulfed in the bubble, Himari grit her teeth.

“I won’t accept that. Tell your damned Forest Guardian that if she keeps you from me for longer than a year, I’m coming after you. I don’t care what dangers are in that forest.” The determination in her eyes was but a pale comparison to the absolute certainty she felt.

Sakura, for her part, simply smiled sadly. “I hope that you do not have to. And I hope that you do not. It would be so very selfish of you to let me save your life just to throw it away in the Black Forest.”

Himari tried to talk, but the water engulfed them both. Her eyes were feverish, for a moment she was desperate, but she couldn’t tell Sakura not to go anymore. Her hands instead reached for her, pulling her in for a tight embrace. Sakura seemed surprised at first, but wrapped her arms around Himari as well.

“I hope we meet again,” Sakura whispered quietly. “I-” Before she could finish her thought, a flash of light burst from the bubble, and Sakura was gone.

Himari woke up with a start, looking around with wild eyes. She was in a small hut now, smaller even than her room back home. Her eyes focused slowly, and she felt a pressure on her left shoulder. It was Maiko.

“Whoa, there, Himari-sama. Lay down, will ya? We almost lost you there, you know.” As Himari laid carefully back down, she assessed Maiko’s face. It was the same figure of calm with just a hint of mischief that Maiko always showed her. There was a hint of extra make up around her eyes though. Had she been crying?

“How long? Where are we?”

“Just a day. You were out for pretty much all of it. I had to ride into the night to make it to Yamura on time. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that you were going to wake up at all. Your breath was erratic, your heart rate started racing. And then suddenly, you were calm again. Do you know what happened?”

Himari closed her eyes as she slowly sat up again. “I remember… a dream. I was in my room. There was a woman, and water, and-” Her eyes opened suddenly. “Where is Sakura-chan?”

Maiko tapped her chin in consideration. “Well, she didn’t leave your side at all during the ride, but once we got here she refused to enter the building. I was focused on you, so I didn’t see where she ran off to. She was so worried about you, I imagine she must be outside.” Maiko walked out and started calling. “Sakura? Sakura. Himari-sama’s awake, come in and see her!”

Himari gripped the thin sheet she laid under, staring at her hands. She closed her eyes and started to clear her thoughts. She thought about those things she was told about in her dream, and a small sphere of water formed in her hands. Tears streamed down her face. At that moment she was certain that her friend was gone for who knows how long.

And quietly, she promised that she would burn that forest down to get her back if she had to.